Comments on: IE7 and Search Defaults: Not a Whineable Offense

By: Jeff Croft

Jeff Croft — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I agree completely. It would be crazy for Microsoft to use anything but MSN as the default search tool in their browser.

By: Chris Casciano

Chris Casciano — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I don’t much care either — I really think there are bigger fish to fry and would rather see attention paid in other areas (like wmp/drm). MSN search is already present in IE6 in a number of ways. Even the Windows Live Shopping stink people are raising today isn’t one I’m up in arms about (though long term I think It has a lot more potential to become a lock in / antitrust issue then search does).

The only cause for making a stink I can see would be if MS is directly breaking one of the requirements of an agreement that came about as a result of the anti-trust actions (and i don’t mean “reminiscent of the tactics that got Microsoft into antitrust trouble in the late 1990’s”).

By: Matthew Levine

Matthew Levine — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

... competition is almost always a good thing.

Indeed! I'm quite pleased to see the search wars heat up, particularly if web browsers become the new front lines. This can only mean more resources for the development and marketing of both IE7 and its alternatives. The result: better standards support all around.

I'm fairly sure that Firefox's promotion on Google's homepage is one of the first salvos in the renewed hostilities. Bring it on, I say.

By: sean coon

sean coon — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

i don’t know anything about microsoft’s software design methodology, but i can totally see this being an on-the-fly decision that didn’t come from up on high.

By: Richard Medek

Richard Medek — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Yes sir. I don't see anyone complaining about Google being the default search engine in Firefox (not to mention the default Firefox start page).

By: alek

alek — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Ditto what Richard said above … and lets not forget that Google has a referral program for Firefox/Google Toolbar. So sure, they would LOVE to see Firefox (with Google) replace IE as the dominant browser. And while I personally prefer Firefox, Google seems to be calling the kettle black here – the irony is incredible.

By: Nathan Smith

Nathan Smith — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I had wondered why other people were upset about this too. It is not novel, as Microsoft has typically followed this pattern throughout their years of IE. Bottom line is, it’s their browser, so it is a waste of time to fight their choice to push their own products. I would say that is typical of any company.

By: Don

Don — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Yes you are right as usual. It is their product and if you don’t like it, don’t use it. I agree also that the sooner ie6 dies, the better off we all are.

By: Gerrit

Gerrit — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

When I watch my girlfriend surfing the web, I notice that sheâ€™s never using that little search field in Firefoxâ€™s browser bar. She is always manually typing “www.google.com” into the address bar…

Maybe a lot of less skilled web surfers just wonâ€™t use the new MSN search field. Plus they hate changes in their everyday surfing environment. They wonâ€™t accept MSN search results, because they want to see that Google logo, which they trust.

By: John Riviello

John Riviello — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I was also wondering what all the fuss was about, especially since after I installed IE7 beta 2 and surfed over to google.com, I was presented with the option to easily add Google search to my IE Search Box and make it the default search option (which I did).

By: Matt Hoult

Matt Hoult — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I agree. Far before the news (which is old and thus the fuss is really all the more confusing) I had always assumed it would be the default. If anything I am surprised that it’s so simple to change. It seems to me that the concentration of discussion about browsers today is completely missing the mark.

Surely talking about the browsers “features” is not going to make much headway (or be particularly interesting) where talking about how browsers can better the web-page itself in the future is far more interesting.

By: Gary Ross

Gary Ross — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Presumably, manufacturers can change this default. So we’ll see Dell making money out of Google to install with Google as the default. As a Mac guy, when I first used XP, I was confused to see that IE was on the desktop but [i]not as a shortcut icon[/i]. This seems much more nefarious to me. Most users know that you can safely delete a shortcut icon, but without that little arrow you were deleting the real thing. Not so here it seems. No Windows user has ever satisfactorily explained to me why IE appears as a regular icon. Anyone? :-)

By: Brian Lesser

Brian Lesser — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

FYI:
A little more context on all this from another article in the NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/02/technology/02google.html

Cheers,
-Brian

By: Rob Goodlatte

Rob Goodlatte — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I don’t see how Google could be surprised by this at all. Heck, I wouldn’t even classify it as a “move” on Microsoft’s part. If I built a search engine and a browser I’d pair the two by default every day of the week, no moral or monopolistic qualms about it. It’s like they’re saying “Shame on you, you’re trying to make money”.

By: Jemaleddin

Jemaleddin — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Microsoft is probably in the wrong on this one. The simple reason is that once you’ve been proven to have a monopoly, you have to play by different rules and don’t get to play the cut-throat games you did when you were an up-and-comer. So comparing Google/Firefox defaults to MS/IE/MSN defaults doesn’t make any sense: they’re playing under different rules.

It took IBM years of anti-trust actions to understand this, and MS just refuses to learn. But the fact is that we’ve decided as a country that just because you’re the biggest kid on the playground, you don’t get to push everyone else around.